70 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
doubt, and some of the most experienced sealers still continue to 
make the port of St. John’s their point of departure. Should 
the vessel strike the ice to the north of the breeding Seals, there 
is nothing to form a guide to the position of the pack; but on 
the other hand, should it be too far south, there is nearly always 
some indication which points to that fact, such as the presence 
of birds or old Seals. There appears also to be a natural in- 
clination to work to the north in search of the Seals rather than 
to the south. It happened this year that the fierce gales from 
the N. and N.W., which prevailed from the 1st to the 20th of 
March, drove the ice on which the young Seals were then, well off 
the land, rapidly south to the neighbourhood of Cape Race, and 
thus they were missed by the majority of the vessels. 
As affording some indication of the severity of the season, 
and of the hardships endured by the crews, I will give a brief 
outline of the voyage of the ‘Aurora,’ as reported by Captain 
Arthur Jackman, one of the most experienced of the commanders. 
Leaving St. John’s on March 10th, the ‘ Aurora’ struck the Seals 
on the 15th, about 150 miles off Cabot Island, and on that day 
and the 16th the crew killed 24,000 Seals. On the 17th, while 
the men were on the ice, ‘‘a terrible swell began to heave among 
the ice, smashing it up, and leaving the men battling for their 
lives on the floating pans ; it was with the utmost difficulty they 
were got on board.” From March 17th to April 7th the crew 
were engaged in picking up Seals at the risk of their lives, the 
ship often rolling rail-under; the result was that out of some 
60,000 Seals killed only 27,900, nearly all young Harps, were 
recovered. The ‘ Aurora’ then bore up for home, being at that 
time about 390 miles S.E. of Cape Race. Capt. Jackman never 
remembers Seals being taken so far south. Some conception of 
the terrible hardships and dangers of the voyage may be formed 
from the fact that four of the crew succumbed to cold and fatigue, 
and the report states that as many as one hundred men (out of a 
crew of 298) were laid up at one time with colds. The ‘ Terra 
Nova’ also lost one of her crew. The ‘Iceland,’ which went to 
the Gulf of St. Lawrence, is said to have made the quickest trip 
on record; she struck the Seals off Rose Blanche, and com- 
menced to kill on March 15th, reaching Harbour Grace, on 
her return, with 22,000 young Harps, on the 23rd. The 
